Memphis Mark

So , Mr. and Mrs. Michael Bennett are gone after today 's TV tapings . I guess they are headed to TNA ? Does the WWE want them ? Taven is out with his knee and his contract expires in March . Elgin , Rowe and Hanson are still working without contracts. Lethal is still the headliner , looks like he is staying. That would just leave Fish and O' Reilly futures still up in the air.

I bought some Sinclair stock this week. Not a lot just a few shares . Of course it quickly went down. . I am wondering does buying SBGI stock make me a total mark for wrestling , a good investor or both ?

I am watching Baby Doll serving her 30 days as Dusty's valet. Dream had her cleaning out the horse stalls at Nelson Royal's ranch. Later Baby Doll escaped riding Floyd the horse . All of the fans were concerned about Floyd's safety . Dusty revealed on TV that he did get Floyd back to ranch. However the news on Floyd was not good. Baby Doll put too much weight on Floyd. As a result Floyd has swayback . Floyd refused to eat and he could not sleep. In the end Floyd was put on to pasture. In my book this makes Baby Doll one of the biggest heels of all time.

My point is that ROH should book guys with an upside on the bottom of the card. Andy Dalton is an example of of guy that should be booked and developed as a long term talent for ROH . Dalton is a great young talent , but hardly an indy darling . ROH is putting people on like Bob Evans on TV , when young talent from the camps should get these spots. They have to build talent that can draw money for the company in the future . They are just taking the path of least resistance by filling spots with low cost talent to stay under budget.

While I am venting. Matt Riddle and Peter Kassa both went to ROH camps . Neither got a spot , yet they have been picked up by Evolve. AR Fox got one dark match and Chris Dickinson got one try out match. Meanwhile , Scott, Colby Corino , Will Ferrirra , Bob Evans , Tim Hughes , Stokely Hathaway . J Diesel and yes even the beloved Cheeseburger get booked , while these guys get turned away by Delirious . ROH needs to develop talent that can draw , because they will lose some talent to the WWE. People like Veda Scott are just a waste of money , those resources should go to talent that could be develop into money makers for ROH .

Yes , you are correct. Scott adds nothing to the show. I assume Scott is booked because she is friends with Delirious. The same reason Redwood was booked in the past. One of the faults of Delirious is that he books people like Scott , Redwood and others that have no talent and/or don't have the physical ability to be pro wrestlers. So, Delirious books his friends that will never draw a dime and turn off new TV viewers while refusing to give people like Chuck Taylor even a try out match. Joe Koff really needs to step in and clean up the bottom part of the roster.

So has Sinclair Broadcasting just outright purchased PWG or do they really have a working agreement ? What does PWG really have to off ROH ? The tape library ? ROH can just sign all of the talent and leave PWG in the dust . Wonder what the real story is ?

Tommy Rich. When TR returned to Memphis after his first run in Georgia , the fans gave him the cold shoulder. The fans have either forgotten about Tommy or they resented him leaving for GCW . Anyway , Tommy turned heel during a TV match with Dundee.and attacked the Lawler who was at ringside with Lance. This is when Lawler was out with his broken leg. Tommy said the fans could all go to hell. The fans did disrespect Wlidfire and he was totally justified in his actions.

I though the Elgin vs. Lethal match is for the title. Elgin is cashing in his title shot he earned by winning SOTF 2016. Styles is claiming he will be ready , He has two weeks to get treatment .

I watching a whole lot of Dusty Rhodes and PWG from 2013 and 2015. Most of PWG stuff is pretty good. I do skip all of the Joey Ryan and Candice material , Not a fan of the WCTT , they are just brutal to watch. On the other hand Stardust can do no wrong in my book.

I open a PWG type promotion in Houston, TX. Which is on pace to past Chicago in market size. I would use a mix of free agents and locals . The locals. would have to have a huge upside. I would assume that I could not use ROH or LU talent. TNA and WWN talent are available for bookings. I would book Sami Callihan , Tommasso Ciampa , Drew Galloway , Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards , Johnny Gargano , Chuck Taylor , Chris Hero , Mike Bailey and AR Fox from the free agent pool. I would book a group of regional talent to balance the card. They would be Lance Hoyt , Luke Hawx , Mike Dell , Andy Dalton , Keith Lee and Shane Taylor . The card would be . Sami Callihan vs. Tommasso Ciampa Drew Galloway vs. Luke Hawx Richards/ Edwards vs. Taylor/ Lee Johnny Gargano vs. Andy Dalton Chuck Taylor vs. Mike Dell Chris Hero vs. Lance Hoyt Mike Bailey vs. AR Fox

Omega really? I mean I would go insane for that and it would in some ways prove me right because as soon as he signed with NJPW full time I said he'll be back in ROH soon because of their working relationship, I'd still be powerfully shocked if they had him show up unannounced on a show I believe still isn't sold out but, it's ROH so I guess they are known for this type of thing Omega is booked in New Jersey the same night. It might be possible for Kenny to make both shows . Just a hopeful guess on my part. FB is sold out, still plenty of tickets for the Saturday TV taping . I will be watching on PPV.

The Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young match has been booked . There is also a mystery wrestler booked , my hunch is Kenny Omega will return. I am looking forward to the show.

Which Podcast is it / i would like to listen to your review of the FIP events ? Thanks.

Rumors are that McMahon and his son in law is targeting ROH talent for 2016. Names that are rumored for NXT are Jay Lethal , Mike Bennett , Matt Taven , Michael Elgin , Kyle O' Reilly and Bobby Fish . Of course the WWE only wants these wrestlers to hurt ROH 's business , not because they really want the ROH talent. I don't think it will hurt ROH to lose some talent. The ROH product is a bit stale and they could use some new blood. If they could free up some roster spots they could bring in people like Sami Callihan , Willie Mack , Juice Robinson , AR Fox , Drew Galloway , Ricochet , Kenny Omega , Karl Anderson and countless others. Plus all of the talents going thur the camp system . Also the TNA talent are not on contracr so Edwards and Richards could return . I think Bennett , Elgin . Taven and Maria Kannellis really need to move on from ROH , they are not over with the fans . It would sting losing Lethal and O' Reilly , but they could be replaced . Any comments.

The Spoiler was awesome. I have some footage of the Spoiler working in Florida . I think he also worked as as the Super Destroyer for Crockett .. The Spoiler had a big run in Texas. He also worked for the old Tri - State promotion of LeRoy McGuirk. If I recall the Spoiler was managed by Gary Hart when he work in the Southwest. He was a great promo man .Loved his matches against Eric Emery in Florida.

Hopefully , Dalton will get a spot in ROH's Top Prospect tourney. I appears that fellow Texans Keith Lee and Shane Taylor will be in their TPT after their showing in Nashville this weekend.

A true legend. I used to watch Nick Bockwinkle defend the AWA World Title at the MSC . He had not only many matches with Lawler but worked with Bill Dundee , Jimmy Valiant , Sonny King. and even a young Jeff Jarrett. I recall being star struck when Nick and Bobby Heenan first came to Memphis. They stepped right off the pages of Inside Wrestling and into the MSC . What . is even more amazing is that Nick was in his 50's and still having great matches. Unheard of today. One of the all time greats .

I have to get this. A lot of Phil Hickerson on this DVD. I love Big Phil , he is legend in my book.

Some good points. JYD was working for Nick Gulas under the ring name LeRoy Rochester. Jarrett pick up Ritter after Gulas closed his doors. Ritter was so horrible in ring that Jarrett send him to Watts. Watts did wonders with Ritter turning into a money draw as the Junkyard Dog. Watts did pick up Jim Duggan and did wonders with him . Duggan was a jobber on GCW before entering Mid- South . I will give Watts credit on those two. However they all came from somewhere else. Watts did not find and develop new talent ., which hurt him in the end.

Also Watts was not good at creating new talent . Memphis and Portland survived so long because they knew had to develop newcomers if they wanted to stay in business . The only new talents Watts developed were Steve Williams and Rick Steiner. Watts backed into Sting after Jarrett let him go . Mid- South / UWF depended on other promoters to create stars . When McMahon and Crockett started taking all of the talent the lack of new talent in the pipeline really hurt his company . Of course Watts responded by hiring Ken Mantell and raiding World Class. I am not a big Bill Watts fan . He was a good promoter and knew how to use other people to make money. However I did enjoy his ring work and booking style . Watt's business tactics were ruthless and he showed no loyalty to the other promoters that him him for so many years.

I had supported TNA wrestling all during the weekly PPV days. I turned the other way when all the WCW washouts showed up in Florida. I held my nose every time Russo appeared on my TV set. I was still getting some decent wrestling . However when Gail Kim was signed and started working as Jarrett's and AMW valet that the beginning of the end of the interest in TNA. I have nothing against Gail Kim . However when AJ Styles started selling for her I thur in the towel. There is no way anyone would believe that Gail Kim could move AJ one inch , Styles is built like a tank.. Yet there was Styles selling her flying head scissors , Her constant interference in the AMW vs. Daniels/ Styles matches really was just unbelievable. I stopped watching TNA at this point and switch over to ROH.

Mid- South took off when Bill Dundee took over the book . The decline of Mid- South began when Dundee returned to Memphis . Watts was losing money due to his poor booking. The Cowboy pushed slow , plodding big men , much like himself . His top baby face , Terry Allen, was getting destroyed by Russians every week. Watts turned to Jarrett and Lawler for help. They sent Dundee to book Mid- South . Dundee bought Ricky Morton , Robert Gibson , Terry Taylor , Jim Cornette , Dennis Condry and Bobby Eaton to Mid -South and mix them with Buddy Landall , Butch Reed , Junk Yard Dog , Ted DibIase , Jim Duggan , Steve Willams, Jake Roberts , Mr. Wrestling II and Terry Allen . Memphis came to the Mid- South and the greatest turnout in the business happen due to the Memphis style of booking. The fans of Mid- South went crazy when they were introduce to the wild and faster paced Memphis booking style. Landall had spendt a lot of time in Memphis and Jarrett had sent JYD to Watts several years back. As most of you know Jarrett got Rick Rude , Jim Neidhart , Mr. Ito , Tony Anthony and Len Denton from Watts. They were added to a line up that featured , Lawler , Jimmy Hart , Dutch Mantell , Austin Idol , King Kong Bundy Randy Savage , Lanny Poffo , Phil Hickerson , Koko Ware , Norvell Austin , Tommy Rich and Eddie Gilbert. This is the point in time when Ric Rude was created by the Memphis brain trust. Watts had been using Rude as a baby face jobber , but Jarrett saw greatness in Rude. Dundee stayed in Mid- South the whole time the Poffo brothers were in Memphis. Eventually Dundee returned home and if I am not mistaken Eddie Gilbert took the book in Mid- South. It is interesting to note that Watts paid Jarrett and Lawler back try to invade their territory when he formed the UWF . Of course Jarrett and Lawler crushed his efforts. Watts was quickly dispatched to Tulsa by the King and company.

Well there is an upside for Vince. He gets to fire someone .

Johnny , Sinclair Broadcasting can buy the WWE three times and have changed left over. That is a fact . Do you you think the Sinclair chairman , David M. Smith , is afraid or concerned about the WWE ? Of course not. , he could care less about Vince .. The WWE is a the leader in the wrestling business , but in Wall Street's eyes it is a small oddball company. You should google the WWE stock and Sinclair stock . Than compare the two and see which one you would buy.